The Effects Of Weather And Terrain On Combat Operations in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic nation which is located in the central part of Asia. It measure 249,984 square miles which places 41^st largest country in the world. It is a mountainous country.  Large part of Afghanistan is dry. Due to this geographic attributes, it has culturally and linguistically diverse and varied population. It has a continental climate and experiencing minor trembles caused by frequent earthquakes. Natural resources such as gold, silver, zinc, iron ores and other precious stones are unharnessed due to continuous civil wars and foreign invasions.

            In the past, Afghanistan has always been attacked by various invaders and conquerors which include the British and Russian Empire. Brutal civil wars have flourished over the country.

            Russian involvement in Afghanistan commenced in the 19^th century during the so called “great game” between Russia and United Kingdom. The Soviet Union has sent lot of military and economic assistance to Afghanistan. The Soviet has given Afghanistan a regular military and financial assistance. Military supports include training of Afghan Army Officers, armaments supplies and military protection. Friendship between Afghanistan and Russia gained strength. In fact, in December 1978, Moscow and Kabul, which are the capitals of Russia and Afghanistan respectively, signed a bilateral treaty of friendship and cooperation. This signed treaty gives permission to Soviet to deploy Soviet military soldiers upon request of Afghanistan. Afghanistan regime became Soviet dependent especially in term of military aspects.

            Russia, as we all know, was located on the northern part of the globe. Their weather was cold and their soldiers were adept in having war in cold places because they were trained in cold places. They were also expert in land wars and they were trained mainly to defend their countries. This was the reason why the Soviet Union is known to have the “Iron Curtain” because no invader can invade them because of their extraordinary defensive power. They were not sufficiently trained in offensive wars. They were trained to adept in their terrain which was plain and their weather.

            When they plan to attack Afghanistan, they used their artillery and their combat helicopters which was the most deadly helicopter in the world during that time. They were planning to win it because of technological advances. But the weather and the climate became their enemy. Afghanistan has a mountainous terrain and the climate is hot. Soviet soldier were unable to withstand the climate and the terrain and, as the result, they became very inefficient in combat. The heavy tanks by Soviet Union were very vulnerable in mountain ranges because they were made to combat in plains. The artillery, which is used by Soviet Union to bombard upcoming armies, also became inefficient and they can’t target the bases of Afghan soldiers because of the angle made by mountain ranges. The artilleries were needed to get closer to shoot but if they get closer, the artilleries will become very vulnerable. All they had were the helicopter which became their primary source of attack.

            Unfortunately for the Soviet Union, they were not successful in establishing control outside Kabul. Majority of the Afghanistan are not controlled by the government ruled by Soviets.

         The main objective of Afghan soldiers was to guard the cities of Afghanistan but it extended to fight the Mujahideen anti-communist forces. Soviet forces have encountered difficulties in fighting in mountainous terrain of the country. Fighting in terrains was hard for the Soviets because they were not familiar with the location and they don’t have experience on fighting in such place. Also, Soviet Union did not establish a counter- insurgency which hopefully can help in controlling rebellion forces.  Soviet forces had sophisticated equipments and weaponry but it did not work effectively in terrains especially the armored vehicles and tanks. The use of heavy artillery to fight rebel forces did not help a lot. Due to obscure strategy of the rebels, soldiers often found themselves fighting against the Afghans. The climate is also a big factor in the combat process. Snows, sleets and the very cold temperature inhibited the troop to perform well in the battle. The Soviet-Afghan war was like the American-Vietnam war; they won almost all the battles but unsuccessful in controlling the countryside.

            After the withdrawal of Soviet Union in Afghanistan, the country was ungoverned for a number of years. A new force emerged, the Al-Qaeda.  Al-Qaeda is an international coalition of terrorist organizations led by Osama Bin Laden. The most shocking attacks of Al-Qaeda occurred in September 11, 2001 in New York and Northern Virginia. The whole world was alarmed when the news was aired on televisions and radios. The group was defined to be an organization that overthrows un-Islamic government.

            As response of US government on the 9/11 attacks, Bush, who is the President of United States at that time and at present, launched a campaign known as “War on Terrorism”. The objective of the campaign was to destroy the Al-Qaeda and removed the Taliban government in Afghanistan.  October 7, 2001, aerial bombings began aiming Taliban forces and the Al-Qaeda. Highly sophisticated weaponries were used by the US troops against the left-over armaments of Al-Qaeda and Taliban group. The United States take over the Mazari Sharif, hence a fall for Taliban government. Next was the fall of Kabul. Taliban forces fled from Kabul, which signified the beginning of a collapse of Taliban. Al-Qaeda and Taliban group began to hide in caves and within bunkers but the US bombers began bombing the mountain areas.

            Due to the continuous strategic combats of US troops, Taliban forces have weakened. In fact, the number of provinces they control was downsized to four out of 30 Afghan provinces. Again, US take over Kandahar.

            During the operations of US troops, many problems have arisen including the mountainous nature of Afghanistan. Also, the environment temperatures and the weather really affect the operations of United States in combating the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda group were believed to hide on those caves, particularly in Tora Bora. The snow and sleets delayed the troops for quite sometime. Temperature reached as low as -20 Fahrenheit. The rough terrain had a great impact on targeting the enemies.

            The harsh environment became an impediment in the operation. The darkness, dirt and little ambient light made the operation difficult. In fact, the night vision goggles did not function well.

            But with the help of mortars and machineguns, Al-Qaeda and Taliban troop were not able to escape on caves. The only thing they can do is to get up and run back into the caves. The correct timing of shooting and the strategic locations of air shooters are the main factor why the operations became successful unlike the case of Soviet Union.

            The US forces main advantage is their technology. They used helicopters and stealth bombers to attack Afghan soldiers. Advance technologies gave advantages because they don’t have to cross those mountain ranges which were the previous problem of the Soviet Union. They also used cruise missiles which is a homing missile that is program to attack certain places. These missiles were controlled by artificial intelligence and were not affected by terrains or climates. Another strategy by US forces is the use of spy satellites which enable to tell what the current weather in a certain place is. They used this as an advantage and they only established an attack when the weather is good or favorable to them.

            Climate and environmental factors can really affect the outcome of a war. This may be helpful or can be an obstacle; it all depends on how you carry the problem and the situation. Yes, for some reasons, these are disadvantageous but if you handle it well, it may result to a good outcome.

References:

Afghanistan, the Taliban and the United States. Retrieved October 23, 2007 from http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq2.html.

Al-Qaeda. Retrieved October 23, 2007 from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/al-qaeda-terrorism.html.

Background Note: Afghanistan. Retrieved October 23, 2007 from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5380.htm.

McElroy,R. Afghanistan:Fire Support for Operation Anaconda. Retrieved October 23, 2007 from http://sill-www.army.mil/Famag/Go_to_War_Primer/pdf_files/OpAnaconda

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Sayranskaya, S.(2001). Volume II: Afghanistan: Lessons from the Last War. Retrieved October 23, 2007 from http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/

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